Photo: Ramose350 at English Wikipedia · Public domainMore people are out of work in Passaic (12.5%) than in 98% of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, Passaic is behind 81% of U.S. towns. Passaic grades C for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. Working from home is the commute for 9% of workers, next to 17% for New Jersey as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Passaic apart on work
Commutes from Passaic are quick
The average trip to work takes 25 minutes, against 31 across New Jersey. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical New Jersey worker, and quicker than any town next door (28 to 34 minutes). Time on the road ↓
Most Passaic residents work close to home
61% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. Only 6% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Why Passaic gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Passaic is better than 26% of U.S. towns, #452 of 468 in New Jersey. Job access by car holds Passaic’s grade up (among the top U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Passaic could be anywhere from C− to C.
About 25 minutes each way for Passaic’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Passaic workers work from home, vs 17% across New Jersey. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 26,563 commuters (the 9% who work from home are left out). Across New Jersey: 75% drive alone, 10% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Near or far: the trip to work from Passaic
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
The daily commute in and out of Passaic
On a workday 22,154 residents head out to work, 3,054 work right here, and 14,120 people come in from elsewhere.
About 63,000 people are in Passaic on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
0.68 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Out of Passaic to work: where people go
Where Passaic clocks in
9% of workers
7% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
The 17,174 jobs based in Passaic
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Passaic, 2013 → 2023: 15,965 → 17,174. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Passaic’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Passaic is among the most walkable U.S. towns
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Passaic is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #9 of 468 in New Jersey. Both inputs place Passaic near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 29,203 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 86% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 17.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 97% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 25.7% of Passaic households have no vehicle (New Jersey 11.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 13% of Passaic’s commuters take a bus or train.
Passaic next to U.S. towns of 50,000 to 96,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 41 | Wayne Township NJ | 54,819 | $153K | 3.4% | 4.9% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 61 | Hoboken NJ | 59,027 | $181K | 7.8% | 3.8% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 100 | East Brunswick Township NJ | 50,678 | $143K | 5.8% | 4.7% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 569 | Scranton PA | 75,514 | $51K | 23.0% | 5.4% | 31% | C |
| 570 | Galveston TX | 53,636 | $56K | 21.4% | 5.8% | 48% | C |
| 571 | Passaic NJ | 71,337 | $55K | 22.9% | 12.5% | 12% | C |
| 572 | Bossier City LA | 63,259 | $56K | 20.8% | 6.5% | 26% | C |
| 573 | Joplin MO | 53,930 | $52K | 16.9% | 5.3% | 50% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 619 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | D |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Passaic, the top three, the last and three more from New Jersey.
Next door to Passaic
The biggest share goes to Clifton (7%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Passaic workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passaic | – | C | A+ | 25 min | $55,371 |
| Wallington | under 2% | B− | A+ | 29 min | $85,862 |
| Garfield | under 2% | B− | A+ | 28 min | $79,700 |
| Clifton | 7% | B+ | A+ | 28 min | $98,237 |
| Rutherford | under 2% | A | A+ | 34 min | $143,153 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Passaic’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Passaic: questions
What is the median household income in Passaic?
$55,371 (±$3,988) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,556 across New Jersey and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Passaic?
22.9%, against 9.7% across New Jersey and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Passaic?
25 minutes each way on average, against 31 across New Jersey and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Passaic work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (9%, 17 mi), Clifton (7%, 2 mi), Paterson (4%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Passaic walkable?
Passaic is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 15.1 out of 20, and 25% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Passaic without a car?
13% of commuters take transit and 26% of households have no car. 86% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Passaic, from the people who make the trip.
More of Passaic
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.